Field



S. C. HATFIELD.

ELASTIC WHEEL.

APPLICA-non min oec. 18, 1915.

lv1 ,324, 1 4. Patented Dee. 9, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

S. C. HATFIELD. ELASTIC WHEEL. APPLICATION FILED necl III, IIIIeI.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Dec. 9, 1919.

S. C. HATFIELD. ELASIIC WHEEL. APPucArloN man Dems. 191s.

Patented Dec. 9, 1919.

UNITED STATES PATENT onirica,

SCI-I UYLER'C. HA'IFIELD, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

To all 'whom t may concern: Y

Be it known that I, Sonumn C. HAT- FIELD, a citizen of the United`States of America, residing in the 'city of Baltimore, State ofMaryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ElasticWheels, of which the following is a specication.

The expense incident Vto the maintenance of pneumatic tires used onmotor` vehicles and therdelays due to punctures and blowouts, to whichall pneumatic Jtires used on the road surface, are subject, are sowell-known to the public that they need not loe discussed. Numerousattempts have been made on this account to do away entirely with the.pnepf matic tire but the use of an air cushion in the wheels seems tobe essential to an easy riding vehicle. The applicant has solved thisproblem by the production of a wheel having a pneumatictire or pad, butinstead of encircling the periphery of the wheel, this tire or circularpadis placed well inside the circumference ofthe wheel and theperipheral `tire is made of solid fabric,prubber or any materialv whichwill give sufficient ytractive power and take up, the small irregulari-To provide for lthe internalpneumatic padortire, thewheel is made `intwo sections andthe pad in the shapeof a small tire isplaced'between thetwo sections encircling the inner one and means yis provided for4joining the sections whereby they are permitted to have radial movementrelatively to each other but are restrainedv from relative motion in thedirectionY of the axis. The applicant has taken out several patentsalongthese general lines, Nos. 1,105,654 40 and 1,087 ,903, and thepresent application relates to a number of details or refinements which,when applied to the broad idea,re

sult in a new and improved deviceV which may be termeda final orcommercial form embodying the original invention. An' ad-V vantageofthis device over thev others is that it can be applied atthe smallestpossible cost `to any" type .of machine and there is but oneV part-whichmust be made `special foreach Vparticular hub and axleA so thattheportion of the wheel can be gotten out in duplicate in large quantities,the. only .variation being as to the external diametenthat ..is,fit mustof course be made inthe various commercial sizes. -1 Y -A ,ein importantfeature .of the invention` is Specification of Letters` Patent.

ELAsTIc WHEEL. l

Patented Dec. 9, 1919.

Appiication ined December is, i915. seriaiivo. eases.

found in the hub casting which must be formed internally to fit thebearings of the particular wheel but Whichis of uniform externaldiameter or may be made in several sizesto provide for wheels ofdiiferentdiameters. The hub casting has a peripheral -seat for theannular pad or internal tire which is, in fact, a circular surfaceinclosing the periphery of the casting. This is of uniform diameter forwheels of the same size but may be varied in constructing wheels ofAdifferent sizes. The tires or pads are secured by means of ringscorresponding to the usual deinouiitable rim and the outer surface ofthe huh casting is preferably made to receive the tire or rings.

The outer portion of the wheel, consisting of the inner rim, the outerrim and the spokes, may be a knock-down device, having all the partsremovable and interchangeable,

and Vthe parts may be made to coperate by dove-tailing, keying or thelike. Theinner Ariinis also provided with a seat forlthe `or under theseat.

Attached to the hub, along surfaces at right angles to the axle and nearthe periphery of the hub, are annular plates, preferablyimade ofnon-corrosive material and either reinforced byradial rods or havingradial corrugations. These plates engage ilat surfaces on the inner rimof theouter portion of the wheel and permit the parts to slide radially,relatively to each other. The plates maybe curved outwardintermediateclly to provide for the expansion of the pa r Y y `Inthe-accompanying drawing, I have illustrated so much of an elastic wheelembodying my invention as is lnecessaryto a complete comprehension ofthe device.

In the drawings, Figure` lV is "a section taken iii a vertical 4planeofthe axis of the wheel showing the general structure; and

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of the hub section, etc.; i a

Fig. 3 is aside elevation of the pad; ,a a Figxl is a fragment of acorrugated guide plate; a

Fig. 5 is a view of one of the seating rings in section, and Fig.6` is4an elevation of same; A v f e vent them from having any relative motiondrical surface 6 of the hub, and these two Vwheel is subjected.

in the direction of the axis.

The hub section 1 is formed internally t0 fit the particular vehicle,either to receive the bearings 5, if it is a front wheel, or to engagethe rear shaft, if it is a rear wheel. Externally, the hub sections 1are of uniform dimensions and configuration, at least as to the portionnear the periphery, so that the remainder of the wheel can be uniform inall instances in wheels of each particular diameter.

The hub section, as shown, has its peripheral surface 6 cylindrical inform with its axis co-incident with that of the wheel. The sides or endsof `the hub have two flat annular faces 7 at right angles to the axis ofthe wheel and therefore at right angles to the peripheral surface. Tothese flat annular faces 7, the guide plates 4 are secured. These 'arepreferably of bronze or other non-corrosive material, made thin andlight and reinforced by radial ribs 9 which in light work may be formedas corrugations in the thin metal, as shown in Fig. 4, but in theheavier constructions, are preferably iron or steel braces 8 secured byanysuitable means as bolts 8, see Figs. 1 and 2. The plates 4 arepreferably curved outward centrally to provide for flattening of the'tire in response to the shocks to' which the The inner rim 11 is acircular band or ring adapted to receive the inner ends of the spokesand having on its inner surface a suitable seat 12 for the outerperiphery of the inner tire or pneumatic pad, and flat surfaces 10 oneach side. At theirV outer peripheries, the plates 4 each bear on a flatcircular surface 10 of the inner rim 11 of the outer section 2, and theparts are arranged to slide freely in the plane of the surface 10 givingthe relative motion of the parts in a radial plane as already described,so that the resiliency of the pad 3 may be ,available to take -up theshocks of the road.

The inwardly disposed cylindrical surface 12 of'the inner rimV 11 of theouter section 2 corresponds to the outer or peripheral cylinsurfacescoperate as an inner and outer seating means for the tire or pad 3. Thispad may be mounted in various ways, but it is preferably held inposition by means of seating rings 13 coperating with the hub,`

and 14 coperating with t-he inner rim of the outer section andcorresponding tothe wellknown demountable rims used in connection withperipheral or tread tires. The rings 13 and 14, as shown, engage innerand outer beads 15 and 16 on the pad. The seating rings 13 and 14 arepreferably split or made in pairs,`one engaging each side of the bead,and the parts ofthe rings, as shown, are held together by U-shapedclamps 17 and bolts 18. The inner and outer surfaces 6 and 12 areprovided with seats for the clamps 17, the seats being in the form ofgrooves 19 extending inward from one of the surfaces 10 and 7 in thedirection of the axis. The o-uter rings 14 with vthe bead 16 are held inposition against lateral motion by radial bolts 20 passing through theinner rim 11 and seated at their ends in sockets 20 in clamps 17, andthe tire or pad may be positioned in relation to the hub section by theends of the bolts 18 and the nuts 21 thereon. As shown, the tire has aninner tube 22 and an outer shoe 23, the latter being opened at the innerperiphery 24 and held in mounted or closed position by means of clamps17 and the rings 13 engaging the split bead l5 from both sides. Y

Referring to the outer section 2 of Vthe wheel, thisis made up of afelly 31 whichl sockets 27 which may be 'threaded to re-` ceive thespokes, which may likewise be threaded, and the outer rim or felly 31may be made in sections joined at 28 and 29 by anysuitable means so thatthe entire outer portion 2 of the wheel is made interchangeable andcapable of being knocked down and assembled at will. Y

The outer rim is provided with any suitable solid tire of fabric, rubberor the like 32, heldin position by any suitable means as an integral{iange or bead 33 and a detachable ring or flange 34 which may besecured by means of bolts 35 engaging bosses 36 on the outer rim orfelly, the tire Vbeing provided with suitable beads 37 to cop-g cratewith the outer rim or felly.

In the case of a rear wheel, it isbf course necessary to 'provide abrake and to this end, certain of theV radiall ribs 9 are provided withbrackets 3.0 to which the brake cylinders are Y conveniently attached. Y

The manner of setting up and using the wheel is apparent from thepreamble and descriptiomithe object being to produce a commercial `formof elastic wheel which is interchangeableV as far as it is possible tochangeable as to its parts which may all be made removable andstandardized, and is otherwise cheaptok manufacture, easy to set up, andpossesses the elastic `features of the prior patented devices referredto and other refinements and conveniences of construction hereinbeforeset forth.

I have thus described my invention specically and in detail in orderthat its nature and operation may be fully understood; however, thespecific terms herein are used descriptively rather than in theirlimiting sense and the scope of the invention is defined in the claims.

I claim:

l. In a pneumatic wheel. an outer section having an inner rim. a hubsection within the inner rim, an annular pneumatic pad between the hubsection and the inner rim, and plates for guiding the hub and outersection so that they move relatively in a radial plane, the hub sectionhaving a peripheral rib with flat radial surfaces to receive the guideplates, the ribbeing of sufiicient radius its external dimensions beingconstant to make the hub section lit any wheel, the remaining parts ofthe wheel being interchangeable so that they may be standardized.

2. In an elastic wheel in combination, an

outer section having an inner rim, a hub section, a pneumatic padbetween the sections, means for guiding the louter section and the hubsection to move relatively in a radial plane, the pad having aperipheral bead, locking rings to hold the pad in position, of'cross-sectional configuration to lit the bead, and clamping means inthe form of U-shaped members to take over the rings and hold the partsin locked position.

8. In an elastic wheel in combination, an outer section having spokesand an inner rim, a hub section within the inner rim, a pneumatic padbetween the sections, the hub section having a peripheral rib of largediameter so that the hub may be litied internally to any bearing and therib be made of uniform outer dimensions in all instances, the remainingparts being interchangeable, the outer section having spoke socketssecured to the inner rim, an outer rim with corresponding spoke socketssecured to the outer rim and hollow spokes engaging the sockets.

Signed by me at Baltimore, Maryland, this 17th day of December, 1915.

SCHUYLER C. I-IATFIELD. Witnesses:

Zuma KUHN. EDwrN F. `SAMUnLs.

